Title: Gods, First Sin and Curse
...
Leaving Gaea to her designs, I decided to visit the library to see if I could discover a thing or two about the Gods of different pantheons. From Gaea's words, I could already infer that she has a hand in the formation of each of these pantheons.
That means to say that all of these Gods were actually original and indigenous people of Earth.
Upon entering the library, I spread my senses to scan the small world that housed all of Gaea's knowledge and quickly located the area I was looking for.
Gods or rather primeval beings as they were described here were the creatures born of divine energy or a connection to the elder Gods. Due to the cleansing of Elder Gods by the Demogorge, they all fled to their respective domain where they stayed out of reach of the Demogorge while still connected to Earth.
Examples were the Xians who would later become the Gods of China. The Xian are a humanoid race of extra dimensional beings that hail from Ta-Lo, a small pocket-dimension adjacent to Earth.
Another was the Amatsu-kami. The Amatsu-Kami are a humanoid race of extra dimensional beings that hail from Ama, a small pocket-dimension adjacent to Earth. They are also known as the Shinto gods.
They were of course other Gods but they didn't seem as appealing as the four I took seriously. Olympians, Norse, Xian, Daeva and Shinto. That didn't mean they weren't strong, far from that. It was just that they weren't interesting enough.
The few I'd like to exchange... culturally exchange ideas with Zeus, Odin, Shiva and Izanagi. They were the real heavy hitters I needed to test out my might against, but that'll be left for later.
It was a wonder how these Gods had existed for so long and hadn't really developed more than they've already developed. This is what makes them different from humans or rather short lived races.
I for one can't say I wasn't beginning to develop that habit myself. With all the time in the world, I am now beginning to procrastinate while lying to myself that everything will be alright with time.
Humans, due to their short lived natures tend to develop faster. They always tried to make their lives better for themselves, leading them to make new discoveries.
Me and the other Gods and immortal existence however, just need to think and create whatever we need in the blink of an eye. When you think about it, it was a cheat ability, but it's our cheat ability.
Future humans will also learn to develop things they can think of through 3D printing but even that will still have flaws until it's perfected. And even at that, there'll still be somethings they can't create.
Anyways-
"Leucadius! Get your ass out here this very instant!"
Huh?
As Gaea's voice sounded, I could feel the entire Dimension begin to quake and I didn't need my intelligence to know that this was a result of her anger.
'What could've made her this angry?' I wondered as I put the book I was reading down and stood up. I didn't use my Motherbox Boomtube so as not to anger her more.
A quick Teleportation was all it took for me to appear in front of her. "What could've gotten your ass in the twist this fine day?"
I wasn't trying to anger her the more by saying that but I guess it just came out.
As I stood before Gaea, her anger radiated like a palpable force, causing the very ground beneath us to tremble. I braced myself for whatever had incurred her wrath, knowing that it must be of grave importance to elicit such a response.
"Look." Was all she said as space trembled to reveal two humans, a male and a female munching upon a Golden Apple with relish.
A wry smile played upon my lips seeing this scene. For some reason, I found it hard to actually be angry at the duo. They were like two adorable kids doing something bad for the first time and finding it freeing.
"You find this amusing?" Gaea's cold voice sounded again causing the smile to fall off my face.
"Not at all." I said, my voice imitating hers to sound as deep as possible.
"I only asked one thing of you. That they should not eat of that tree!" She continued, her voice a mix of both anger and hurt, making me feel bad.
"I'm sorry. I will rectify this." I said but she snorted
"You think if it was rectifiable I would be angry? These fruits grow straight from the branches of Yggdrasil. There's no manipulating It to grow another fruit!"
"Ooh." I reeled back in shock. Damn. I didn't know about that. Wasn't this some tree grown by Oshtur with some magical properties? Considering this is a sub tree grown from the branch of Yggdrasill...
"Fuck."
Normal POV
"Fuck." Leucadius said. He was out of ideas on how to make reparations for this blunder. Although the tree still had other fruits, he could understand why she was angry at one missing.
Yggdrasill was the world tree. A tree filled with the World's Wisdom. A single fruit could have unimaginable effects on whoever ate it, and considering the looks of satisfaction on the faces of Adam and Eve, both Gaea and Leucadius could tell they both didn't receive any.
Perhaps they did, perhaps they didn't, they didn't know and had no way to know.
"I'll have them leave the garden." Leucadius said after some thoughts. This was the original storyline after all and Gaea didn't know that so he was using it to his advantage.
"And how would that help matters?" Gaea asked coldly to which Leucadius could only shrug.
"I have no idea. Perhaps by throwing them into the world, we might actually see the effects of the fruit coming into effect." He said. "It's not like killing them would restore the fruit. Also...they're our children."
"That seems too lenient. Children or not." Gaea said, her expression still cold as she looked at Leucadius.
"Then how about a curse?"
"What do you have in mind?"
To that question, Leucadius smiled and kept silent, only closing his eyes and projecting his presence towards the now enlightened husband and wife.
Few Minutes Ago
Now the serpent men were more subtil than any beast of the field. And under both Leucadius and Gaea's nose, Seth sent a few of them to go cause chaos in whatever it was they both were doing.
Seth wasn't oblivious to the energy signature he felt in Leucadius' spear and sword, so he knew the two of them might be in cahoots.
And so, a serpent man who had been observing the duo of Adam and Eve for some time finally thought it wise to approach and said to Eve. "Has God said, you shall not eat of every tree of the garden?"
Eve, ever kind and pure of heart , replied to the talking snake without suspicion. "We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden. But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, we shall not eat of it, neither shall we touch it, lest we die."
The snake man sneered at the woman internally. It was surprised at how gullible this Human female was. And taking advantage of that, he said. "You shall not die. Surely. For God knows that on the day you eat of it, then your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil."
The power of persuasive manipulation. Having someone do something you want them to do while making them think it was their idea.
Eve looked at the tree and saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise. Curious, she took a fruit from the tree and ate it. Finding it to be good to the tongue, she thought to share it with her husband.
The husband, Adam, being the man he was, trusted whatever his wife gave him and ate, and it was at that moment that their eyes were opened.
Not the physical opening of one's eyes, but the spiritual. However, due to not having any prior knowledge on what they were doing, they didn't take note of it. What they first noticed, was the fact that they were naked
- Shame -
They found it shameful to be naked in front of the other and quickly sort out leaves to use to make clothes
- Wisdom -
And after that, they heard the voice of their father God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of their Father amongst the trees of the garden
- Guilt - Fear -
That was when they heard it. "Adam. Where are you?" The voice of their God resounded throughout the garden to which Adam replied.
"I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself."
"Why would you do that? Hide from your father? Is there anything you have I've not seen before? And who even told you you were naked?" Their father's voice came again.
(A/N: imagine a 21st century man being asked these questions 🤣🤣)
"Have you eaten of the tree which I had commanded you not to eat?" Leucadius asked again, and this time, Adam didn't even hesitate to sell out his wife.
"It was the woman you gave me to be with. She gave me a fruit from the tree and I did eat."
'Snitch.' was all Leucadius could think of at that moment, but to the woman, he asked. "What is this you've done?"
"It was the serpent. It deceived me and I picked a fruit from the tree to eat."
Leucadius who heard this wanted to be disappointed but couldn't. Although he expected them to stand up for each other, they were in the end, children who had all the knowledge of the world given to them.
'In their panic, they forgot that it was their father and if they asked, I could've easily forgiven them.' Leucadius thought.
"Because you have done this, you shall be cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field. With your belly shall you go, and dust will you eat all the days of your life."
It was but a mere sentence but the snake man who was sneering while in hiding found that his limbs began retracting into his body. In its shock it tried to run away only to find itself wriggling on the floor like some worm.
But Leucadius didn't put him in his eyes at all. He was using a new system of magic he created. 12 Tier Curse Magic. After his battle against Seth, he found that it'll be hard to curse him, so looking at it from another perspective, how about cursing every serpent that leaves his protection.
Earth wasn't a part of his domain, and since he had no dominion here, Leucadius' curse would work until a higher tier mystic user destroys the curse.
"I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers. They shall crush your head, and you shall bite at his heel." Leucadius finished before focusing on Eve.
"I will greatly multiply your pain and sorrow, at your conception; in sorrow you shall bring forth children; and your desire shall be to your husband, and he shall rule over you forever."
'Yup. I had just become the first anti-feminist. Teehee.' Leucadius thought jokingly.
And to Adam he said, "Because you had listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, saying, you must not eat of it... Cursed is the ground for your sake; in sorrow shall you eat of it all the days of your life."
'Heh. To think I'm cursing a man for being a beta male. The irony.' Leucadius thought. 'But in the end, what is Beta and Alpha when it comes to love?'
"Thorns shall it bring forth to you and you shall eat the herb of the field. Through your sweat shall you eat bread, till you return unto the ground. For out of it were you formed: for you are dust, and to dust you shall return."
Looking at their pitiful clothes made out of leaves, Leucadius thought to leave them to discover methods of clothing by themselves but his compassion wouldn't let him.
So making clothes out of Animal skins, he destroyed the ones made of leaves and clothed them with it.
With Gaea
"They have become like us in everything other than Essence." Leucadius said as he opened his eyes.
"How so?" Gaea asked, confused.
"To know good and evil... staying here any longer would lead to them...their Wisdom would lead them to seek Eternal life. And that could be detrimental."
"But even chasing them away won't destroy that innate connection they have with this realm." Gaea said angrily while glaring at Leucadius.
"Hmm. I have a plan for that." He said as two portals opened behind him and Gaea as two humanoid figures appeared. Two Cherubims, their presence commanding reverence as they appeared.
Standing tall and resplendent, they possessed an otherworldly beauty that transcended mortal comprehension, but compared to Leucadius and Gaea, they were alright.
Their forms were adorned with golden black and white wings, each feather shimmering with iridescent hues that exuded a holy light.
"Father." They both said and fell to their knees but Leucadius waved at them, stopping them before they could do so.
"You shouldn't do that. A sincere bow is enough." He said and turned to a surprised Gaea.
"I didn't know you had children."
"It's a long story." Leucadius said succinctly before pointing at Adam and Eve. "Escort those two out of this dimension and guard the gate on the physical world leading to this plane."
Leucadius brought out the same sword he had fashioned from the branch Gaea had given him and gave it to one of them. "Place this at the gate and stand guard. Till the end of time, make sure no one steps in here without mine or Gaea's permission."
"As you command." They both said with joy and determination before disappearing in a burst of light. 'Yup. Super speed bordering Dimensional Shifting...get.'
"So...what do you think?" Leucadius asked, turning to Gaea.
"You didn't punish them y'know. Other than chasing them away, you didn't really do anything."
"Says who?"
"Says me. Every woman must experience pain while giving birth, you just said it as though it's not a norm." Gaea said to which Leucadius rolled his eyes.
"They both don't know that. So from now till the end of time, every woman who gives birth would think it's a punishment. Easy. Isn't that enough punishment to last an era?"
"You...are...I don't even know. And the man? Isn't it a norm for the field to be tiled before things can grow?"
"Come now Gaea. Asking these questions would make me think you to be foolish." Leucadius said, causing the goddess to growl at him.
Unaffected by that, he continued. "Since they took their first breath, have they so much as shed a sweat in the name of working? When they hunger there's fruits to be eaten. When they thirst, there's water to be drunk. With those amenities taken away...isn't that punishment enough?"
"..."
"That's ingenious if I do say so myself."
"Of course it is. I am God. Abounding in Mercy, Wisdom and Compassion-" Leucadius began with a narcissistic smile.
"Alright, don't push it." Gaea interrupted causing his aura to shatter. "But...are you sure you did the right thing?"
"Look who's asking. Need I remind you that you never paid them any attention before."
"That's because you were there." Gaea snorted and looked away.
"Don't worry. Their bodies alone would live for at least a thousand years...well, unless the impurities of the Earth have something to say about it. But even at that, with the intelligence and Wisdom they now possess, should they die prematurely out there, then I'd be a failure of a Creator."
Gaea didn't know what to say towards Leucadius' boast and just kept silent.
"Have a little bit of faith in our genes would you?"
"Oh, but I do. It's just your intelligence that I'm worried about." Gaea said and disappeared.
"Wha-! I'll have you know that no one beats me in terms of intelligence! How can they have it and still...hey! Are you listening?!"